Rock the Boat
by Boogum
Summary: “It’s called a fishing rod, you dunce,” snapped the redheaded woman. “And stop complaining. This stupid trip is bad enough without having to listen to your horrible voice all day."


**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine.**

**A/N: This oneshot is dedicated to Ann (MemoriesFade) as a birthday gift from me. Happy Birthday, Ann. I hope you like it. ^_^**

**Rock the Boat**

Draco knew that he should have taken the leggy blonde's offer when he had been given the chance. There she had been, all legs and short skirts—a sure ticket for a night of pure, physical bliss—but instead he had chosen to have drinks at the Hog's Head with his best mate, Blaise Zabini. Well, wasn't that the biggest mistake of his life. He would forever swear that the amber-eyed man had slipped something in his drink, for there was no other explanation as to why he had agreed to come on this ridiculous trip—if trip is what you could call it.

"Remind me why I'm here again," drawled the blond, casting a depreciating stare at his supposed _best mate._

"Oh, come on, Draco," responded Blaise with what the blond considered a disgusting display of cheerfulness. "It's not that bad."

"I'm sitting in the pouring rain, holding some ridiculous metal contraption and trying to catch a fish that I don't even care about catching. I would say that this is an all-time low."

"It's called a fishing rod, you dunce," snapped the redheaded woman, who was currently sitting across from the blond and wearing a scowl that was remarkably like his own. "And stop complaining. This stupid trip is bad enough without having to listen to your horrible voice all day."

"Not you too, Ginny," sighed a bushy-haired brunette, the fourth of the unlikely quartet. "I always knew that Malfoy was going to complain, but I thought that maybe _you_ could appreciate the trip."

The redhead pushed her sopping wet hair out of her face. "I hate to side with Malfoy, Hermione, but I'm going to have to agree with him on this one. What is the _point_ in all of this? All we're doing is getting wet."

"We're fishing!" exclaimed Blaise, grinning in a way that made both redhead and blond visibly cringe. "Don't you know that it's a favourite pastime of Muggles to relax and escape from their busy lives?"

"Oh, sure," responded Ginny with painful sarcasm, "because I just _love_ spending my one day off from work on a boat that smells like fish entrails and getting soaked in the rain while I listen to Draco-sodding-Malfoy whinge in my ear about every possible thing."

"I do not whinge," objected the blond indignantly.

"Really? Then what do you call that high-pitched whining you're so fond of doing?"

"You're not exactly the queen of patience yourself, _Ginevra_," retorted the blond, drawling her name out so that it sounded like the foulest of diseases. "Who was the one complaining about her clothes getting wet when it first started raining? Who was the one moaning because she was bored and no fish were biting her line?"

"You!" cut in the redhead, pointing an accusing finger his way. "And then you tried to use your wand to catch the fish, only Hermione caught you before you could and made you go back to using the rod, which, of course, set you off whingeing again."

Draco scowled at the memory. So what if he had been cheating by trying to use his magic to catch the fish? It was ridiculous to expect them to sit there holding those silly metal rods and waiting for the sea creatures to bite on their own time. It was obvious that the bait Granger had promised would be so irresistible to the fish wasn't quite as irresistible as she had claimed it to be. He had only been trying to speed things up, but then the silly wench had caught him trying to use his magic and had got Blaise to take the wand off him. She claimed that using magic would only ruin the trip and that he wouldn't be able to get the real satisfaction from it all, or some such rot.

Horrible woman. He would have had a lot more to say to her on the matter if she didn't happen to be his best friend's fiancée. As it was, Draco had decided to take his loss far more gracefully than was expected, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed the humiliation of it all, and it certainly didn't mean that he approved of his friend's choice in a future wife. She was a complete nightmare, not to mention a Mudblood, though Draco would never dare use that description aloud around either of them again. He had well and truly learnt his lesson from the last time it had slipped out.

Still, she _was_ a horrible woman, and it seemed that she had a knack for ruining his normally peaceful and Muggle-free existence; especially when she was dragging him off, via Blaise, on fishing expeditions that were so tedious that even the murky depths of the water were beginning to look tempting.

"I knew I should have gone with the leggy blonde," lamented Draco, quite upset at his own lack of foresight.

"Oh, please, not that ridiculous blonde again," scoffed Ginny, rolling her eyes. "I bet that you don't even know her name."

"I didn't need to know her name, Weasley. I only needed to know that she was easy."

"You're disgusting."

"And you're jealous."

"Jealous?" repeated the redhead with a snort. "What have _I_ got to be jealous about?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe you're just upset that I get all the action while no man would even come near you with a ten-foot broomstick, or maybe you're just annoyed because that leggy blonde isn't you."

"Ugh, as if I would want to have sex with a conceited jerk like you."

"Then why get angry about it at all?"

"I'm not getting angry."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"NO. I'M. _NOT_!"

"Here we go again," sighed Hermione, watching in some resignation as the blond and redhead once again began bickering with great vehemence. "What are we going to do with them, Blaise?"

"We could always push them overboard."

"We can't do that."

"I don't see why not. I think it would be funny."

Hermione ignored this comment and continued to watch the squabbling duo, whose argument had now reached the petty insult stage.

"Maybe it was wrong to have invited them, after all?" mused the brunette seriously. "I thought that being stuck together on a boat for a day might have allowed them to get over their differences, but I see that they're still just as antagonistic towards each other as ever."

"It's not your fault, love," said Blaise, wrapping his arms around his fiancée's waist and watching his arguing friends over her shoulder with some amusement. "Draco and Ginny have always rubbed against each other the wrong way, right from the very first day that we forced them to talk to each other."

"Well, you'd think that they'd be over it by now. It's been _nine years_, for goodness sakes, and yet they're still acting like a pack of children fighting over the same toy."

It was in that moment that Ginny Weasley let out a wild yell and pounced on the blond, knocking them both overboard into the very choppy waters of the lake. Hermione and Blaise were too stunned to do anything, but it seemed that the jolt of cold water did nothing to stop the blond's temper from rising.

"You crazy wench," yelled Draco. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Ginny never did get to make her feisty retort. In fact, Draco only got to see her hand flailing helplessly at him before that too disappeared into the murky depths. He swore under his breath and quickly dived under the water, ignoring the stinging in his eyes as he searched for a sign of the stupid redhead that had got them both into this mess. A flash of red caught his eye, and he quickly swam towards it, knowing that the only thing that red was the psychotic wench's horrible hair.

He found her thrashing wildly in the water while still sinking steadily deeper. It was obvious that she didn't know how to swim, and though at any other time the blond would have felt annoyed at her stupidity in omitting such an important detail when fishing on a Muggle boat (let alone the stupidity at not even being able to swim), right now he was far more concerned with getting her out of the water while she was still conscious.

Draco had to take a moment to calm her down, as she was panicking too much for him to even get close to her, and then he wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her swiftly back up to the surface. They broke through the water, Ginny coughing and spluttering as she spat out the salt water that had got into her lungs while still clinging to him as if her very life depended on it.

"You okay?" asked Draco, holding her afloat in his arms.

Ginny just clutched him tighter, looking for all the world like a frightened kitten about to be dumped in a bath. She was shivering uncontrollably, which was really no surprise. The water was freezing, a fact that he was only now just beginning to register himself as the adrenaline wore off and the biting coldness of the water sunk into his nerves.

He looked up at the boat and saw Hermione and Blaise looking anxiously down at them.

"Don't just stand there gaping at us," growled the blond. "Chuck me a rope or something."

A rope was duly thrown to him. Draco gripped it tight in one hand, his other still holding Ginny firmly against his body, and then he ordered Blaise and Hermione to pull them up. In a few seconds they were back on the boat, though Ginny had still refused to let go of him and was now burrowing her face into his neck as if he were the sole foundation of her world.

"I think she's in shock," said Hermione, throwing a guilty look at her redheaded friend.

"Yes, Granger, I do realise that," snapped the blond. "I think most people would go into shock after they almost drown. I suppose it didn't occur to you to ask if she could actually swim or not?"

"Hey, hey," interposed Blaise, giving a warning glance at his friend. "There's no need to take it out on Hermione. How was she supposed to know that Ginny couldn't swim?"

"No, Blaise, Malfoy is right," sighed Hermione. "I should have asked her if she could swim or not, or at least have given her a lifejacket. I just didn't think. It's been so long since I've gone fishing myself, and I wasn't really expecting any of us to go falling into the water."

"Forget it," said Draco impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Just give me my wand so that I can take her back to my place and get her warmed up before she catches hypothermia or something."

Blaise nodded and quickly went to grab the blond's wand. Hermione shot Draco a suspicious glance that told all too well what she thought of his idea of _warming up_ at his place, but the blond only threw her a scornful look.

"Do you honestly think that I would try taking advantage of her when she's like this? Who do you think I am, Granger?"

Hermione flushed and mumbled an apology, but Draco was already turning his attention back to Blaise, who was now handing him his confiscated wand.

"Make sure you take good care of her," said Blaise. "You don't want those brothers of hers coming after you."

"If they do, I'll know just who to direct them to," responded Draco with unnerving sweetness, and then he tightened his grip on Ginny and Disapparated them both with a loud crack.

Hermione stared at the empty space where her bedraggled companions had once stood, a worried expression on her face. "I hope Ginny is okay."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," responded Blaise. "I have a feeling that this may work out for the two of them yet."

"What do you mean?"

"My sweet, adorable little love. Surely you must have noticed the way that Draco was holding her so protectively? And here I thought you were _intelligent_."

"Oh, shut up."

Blaise grinned. "You know you love me."

Her lips twitched. "Is that so? Well, now that we're alone, how about you remind me just why I love you?"

Blaise leaned in until his lips were just inches from hers. "Now that I can do," he murmured, and then he closed the distance between them.

**OOOO**

Draco Apparated into his home with Ginny still desperately clutching onto him. She hadn't spoken a word since she had fallen into the water. He didn't like to admit just how unnerving he found that. She was normally so vocal. Annoyingly so, in fact.

He used his wand to conjure a thick blanket and then gently prised her fingers off him so that he could wrap it around her shivering form. She immediately latched her fingers onto the blanket and then looked up at him with wild, frightened eyes. The sight made something foreign tug at his heart. She looked so vulnerable and scared.

"Come on," said Draco, placing his hand on her shoulder and guiding her down the hallway towards the bathroom. "Let's get you out of those wet clothes."

His words must have triggered something in her brain, for she was suddenly wrenching herself away from him and glaring up at him indignantly, all traces of vulnerability vanishing from her features.

"Are you trying to take advantage of me?" demanded the redhead.

"What are you talking about?"

"My gosh, and here I thought that I could actually trust you, but now I see that you were just trying to take my clothes off and do Merlin knows what."

"_What_?" exclaimed Draco, genuinely surprised. "For your information, Weasley, I was just taking you to my bathroom so that you could have a bath while I went and found some dry clothes for you."

"O-oh," stuttered Ginny, her cheeks now burning a deep crimson.

"Yes, _oh_," responded Draco bitterly, feeling suddenly very ill-used and unappreciated.

It wasn't every day that he went out to save silly bints from drowning, especially when said silly bint was the one who had knocked them both overboard in the first place. Nor did he make a habit of taking the same silly bint home and making sure that she was okay, but he had, and now here she was accusing him of trying to take advantage of her. Of all the ungrateful wenches.

"I'm sorry," said Ginny in a small voice. "I'm just so upset right now. I don't really know what I'm talking about."

"It's fine," sighed the blond. "Let's just—let's just not talk about it."

Ginny nodded and let him lead her into the bathroom. He turned on the hot tap, the bath filling up almost immediately thanks to the spells that had been placed on it, and then he showed her where the towels were kept and gave her a fluffy dressing-gown that she could use until he found some better clothes for her. The redhead didn't bother to ask why he had such a feminine article of clothing in his bathroom. No doubt he kept it for his 'guests'.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," said Draco, looking just a little awkward.

"You should really get warmed up yourself," remarked Ginny, eyeing his equally wet and shivering form with a smile. "You look like you need it."

"I'm all right."

"Don't be ridiculous," retorted Ginny, and then promptly slammed the door on his face.

Draco stood outside the door for a moment, hearing her mutter something about men and their stupid need to feel masculine. A faint flush stole to his cheeks. Perhaps a bath wouldn't be so terrible, after all?

**OOOO**

The redhead frowned as she slipped on the fluffy dressing-gown that Draco had provided for her. It really was very lovely and warm, though she didn't like the thought of what other women had worn it before her. Her natural modesty also didn't like the fact that she was completely starkers underneath it, and she hoped that Draco would be able to find her something decent to wear. Of course, she could have used a drying charm to magically dry the clothes that she had been wearing on the boat, but, as they were thoroughly drenched, it would take hours to do so. There was also the fact that her domestic spells were not that spectacular and, since Draco had also neglected to suggest that they use the charm to dry her clothes, she somehow doubted that he was particularly adept at the art either.

She hugged the dressing-gown tight to her body, making sure that nothing was showing, and then exited the bathroom. Draco was waiting for her in the living room, having already changed into dry clothes.

"Feeling better?"

Ginny nodded. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt very awkward around him. Perhaps it was because he had saved her life, or maybe she just didn't know how to deal with him when he was being nice. It certainly was odd to have Draco Malfoy playing Mother Hen to her.

"I didn't have anything that would fit you," said Draco, standing up from the chair and handing her some clothes. "But these are at least warm."

"Thank you," mumbled Ginny. "Um, where can I get changed?"

"The guestroom is just down the hall."

"Right."

She thought of all the many hallways and doors outside the living room. It had been a mission in itself trying to remember how to get back to this room.

"This way," said Draco, rather amused at her confusion.

He once again led her down the hallway and then stopped outside the guestroom. She was expecting him to leave again, but the blond made no motion to move. That was when something seemed to shift in the air, something very imperceptible. To Ginny it was almost as if there was a feeling of expectancy hovering around them, as if something was supposed to be happening that hadn't quite been realised yet.

She instinctively looked up into his eyes and felt a faint jolt of surprise shoot through her when she realised that they were grey and not the pale blue that she had always thought them to be. It was odd why such a revelation should strike her in that moment, odd why she even cared about what colour his eyes were, but then he stepped closer to her and all thought vanished as the feeling of expectancy surrounding them suddenly intensified.

It didn't occur to her to move away. It didn't even occur to her to question what he was doing. She just stood there, her heart beating erratically in her chest as he calmly took her face in his hands and captured her lips in a sweet, lingering kiss that quite stole her breath away. It was not her first kiss, not even her twenty-first, but when he drew her closer to him and began kissing her more passionately, there was no denying that it was the best one that she had ever had. A wave of warmth seemed to envelop her as he deepened the kiss, travelling right down her spine to her toes, which instinctively curled in pleasure. She knew that she never wanted him to stop, but all too soon the need for oxygen demanded that they separate.

They reluctantly broke apart, both still trying to catch their breaths. The clothes that he had given her to change into had long been dropped to the floor and forgotten, and Ginny looked up at him now from her very comfortable position in his arms with her cheeks lightly flushed and a rather impish smile playing on her lips.

"So, still upset that you decided not to go with the leggy blonde?"

"Well, she was rather—"

"Draco!"

He smirked and then leaned down to brush his lips lightly against hers.

"You know that I didn't care about her, Ginny."

"And what about me? Do you care about me?"

He stopped smiling and met her now very serious gaze. "Are you expecting me to make a declaration of my love?"

"No, I just want to know that this actually means something to you, because if you're just going to sleep with me and then leave me, there's no point us taking this any further."

"And if I do intend to stick around?"

Ginny blinked and then realised that he was smiling at her. Really smiling.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

He nodded. "But I do have one stipulation."

"And that is?"

"Never let Granger take us on a Muggle fishing trip again."


End file.
